Tennessee school district preemptively pulls 300+ ‘obscene’ books

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Ahead of a Tennessee Senate bill that would allow schools to pull off their library shelves and review any books deemed “obscene,” the school district of an eastern Memphis suburb temporarily removed more than 300 books, igniting backlash from students and the community.

Key Players

Collierville Schools serve approximately 9,100 students in an eastern suburb of Memphis. The district comprises six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school, each of which has its own school library.

State Rep. Scott Cepicky (R) represents the 64th District in the state House of Representatives, a rural district encompassing New Hope, Spring Hill, and Culleoka, south of Nashville. He sponsored House Bill 1944. 

State Sen. Joey Hensley (R) represents the 28th District, encompassing Columbia, Waynesboro, and Pulaski, south of Nashville. He sponsored Senate Bill 1944.  

Further Details

On Jan. 25, 2022, Cepicky and Hensley introduced Bill 1944 to both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly, proposing a ban on any book deemed “obscene” from school libraries. 

The bill, if signed into law, would allow parents or legal guardians to report any books they consider obscene. Reported books would then be pulled from school library shelves, leaving school districts to decide if they should be returned or pulled from circulation. 

On March 28, the bill passed the Tennessee House of Representatives by 63 to 24 votes, cast along party lines with overwhelming Republican support. The State Senate referred the bill to “summer study,” meaning it would revisit it when the next legislative session begins in January 2023. 

Between February and April 2022, Collierville Schools removed more than 300 books that contained “sensitive content” on a list that reportedly had been compiled by the high school librarian. The district claimed it was merely flagging the books for review, anticipating it would have to do so anyway if the bill were signed into law. 

“Please note that these books were not removed from official circulation through our library Destiny system but were pulled from the shelves to begin a review process,” the school district stated. 

In April, records obtained by the Commercial Appeal showed that a district official directed the books be returned to shelves. The district stated that when the school was notified Senate Bill 1944 had been referred to summer study and would not be passed imminently, the books no longer needed to be under review for obscenity.

The framework by which the district decided to review books did not come from the state senate, but rather the high school librarian, the Commercial Appeal reported. It had five tiers of obscenity, and books on the bottom tier were removed from shelves simply for containing any mention of LGBTQ+ characters.

In an email, the high school librarian defined “sensitive material” as “books with gay protagonists, books that educate or provide support for LGBTQIA+ issues, books that have been questioned by parents in Collierville and surrounding munis, and books that overtly address BLM [Black Lives Matter] issues or include BLM themes.”

Outcome 

Students, activists speak out against preemptive censorship

Some Collierville students felt “betrayed” by the preemptive removal of more than 300 books, WREG reported. “We can’t change the system without having a hard conversation and without looking at our history and acknowledging all the oppression that took place and that’s exactly what they’re avoiding” by removing books with any sensitive material, Salina Shamsuddin, a Collierville High School student, said.

Milana Kumar, another Collierville High School student, said removing books that discuss LGBTQ+ identities “doesn’t make any student feel safe, respected, or their identity is being fostered in any classroom.”

The Tennessee Equality Project said that even before a book-banning bill passes and becomes law, it can have a “profound and actual chilling effect” and pointed to the events in Collierville as an example.

As of Oct. 25, 2022, there were no further developments.